Bridle-bit



- UN TE STATES-PATENT OFFICE.

NEIL srALKEa'oF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 471,833, dated March 29, 1892. Application filed January 12, 1892. Serial No. 417,868. I (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NEIL STALKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of safe bit which is simple and cheap in construction, having a soft and flexible although strong mouth piece, with integral cheekpieces to prevent the bit from sliding from side to side or pulling the mouth out of shape, the mouthpiece being so constructed that, while flexible and strong, it is firm, but has no interior concealed parts which will corrode, rust, or rot under the influence ofthe saliva and liquids of a horses mouth and weaken the mouth-piece or its stitching.

To this end the invention resides in details of the construction and the materials used, which make such a construction with the incident advantages possible, as more particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims. 7

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a front View of the bit. Fig. 2 isa longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is an end view, and Fig. 4 is a detail view of the ring-holding core of the mouth-piece.

In the views, 1 indicates the rein-rings, which are made of metal, composition, or any other strong material. These rings are joined together by a thick and heavy strip of very tough rawhide 2, which forms the core of the mouth-piece of the bit. The rawhide, which is medicated or treated in the customary manner to make it soft, pliable, and impervious to moisture, is folded. upon itself and the ends joined near the middle of the core, holdingthe rings in the loops at the folds. It is preferred that one end of this tough The obj ect of the invention is to provide a so stitched as to tightly incase and hold the core from coming apart. Projecting at an angle rearward from the ends of this mouthpiece are the integral tanned-leather cheekpieces 6, of a size usually slightlylarger than the rein-rings to keep the rings from contact with the cheek and also to prevent the bit from being pulled'from side to side in the mouth of the horse.

A bit constructed in this manner is very soft for the horse and does not make the mouth sore. It does not slip' from side to side and pull the mouth out of, shape, so the horse drives evenly and steadily, even when the mouth-pieceis softened by saliva. 'There is no hard core, nor is there any part which will rust and rot the ring-holding core in the interior, where it cannot be observed after use, as, of course, the tanned-leather mouthpiece absorbs and holds moisture, but the treated rawhide does not. There need be no stitches in the interior which-will rot out and allow the core to pull apart and give way under excessive strain at a critical moment,

as the ends are secured together by the tongue and slot that are held locked by the outside covering ortanned-leather. mouthpiece, which would be squeezed more tightly when a horse had his teeth fastened on it, so the tongue could not possibly fold up and draw out of the slot. The core formed in such manner is of course very light and strong, and being treated or medicated is soft, pliable, tough, and easy for ahorse, but the chief advantage incident to the invention is that there are no interior or concealedparts which can rot out and give way after use.

I claim as my invention- 1. A bridle-bit consisting of a tanned-leather mouth-piece with integral cheek-pieces and a flexible medicated rawhide core doubled upon itself and held in the month-piece with by a tongue-and-slot connection held in the rein-rings at the ends, substantially as specimonth-piece with rein-rings at the ends, subfied. stantially as specified.

2. Abridle-bit consisting of a tanned-leather NEIL STALKER. 5 mouth-piece with integral cheek-pieces and Witnesses: v

a flexible medicated rawhide core doubled H. R. WILLIAMS,

upon itself and its ends joined at the middle P. A. PHELPS. 

